As the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, Devin Nunes has recently been in the spotlight for his pro-Trump support during recent impeachment inquiry hearings. But like all members of Congress, he has an election coming up in 2020 and his Democrat challenger says his campaign has seen an outpouring of support since the hearings began.
"We've received over $300,000 in contributions since the beginning of this impeachment hearing from over 10,000 individual contributions," said Phil Arballo, who is trying to win the seat for California's 22nd District — a seat which Nunes has held since 2003.
Arballo, a Mexican-American businessman, entered the Democratic primary for the seat in June but said his campaign has seen a "groundswell of support" since attention shifted to Nunes during the hearings last week.
"As a constituent of his, and I can tell you from talking to a lot of people every day here on the ground, it's embarrassing, that he's our representative, here. He does not represent us here," Arballo said of the Central Valley.
Nunes defeated his Democratic challenger in 2018, but Arballo thinks the tide will turn in 2020.
"It's a very winnable seat," he said. "Everything is trending in the right direction for our race next year."
Nunes is not the only Republican whose role in the hearings may be helping Democratic challengers. Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York's 21st Congressional District played a prominent role in the hearings. Her 2020 challenger Tedra Cobb, who unsuccessfully challenged Stefanik in 2018, announced her campaign raised $1 million the weekend after the impeachment hearings.
Rebecca Walser, President of Walser Wealth Management, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where she discusses the factors behind Monday's surge on Wall Street and explains why investors will likely experience volatility in the market throughout the month of December.
Cheddar's Chloe Aiello joined "Closing Bell" to break down the progress of the SAFE Banking Act in Congress as cannabis businesses operators struggle to find financial institutions that will service them. Banks face steep federal penalties, including the risk of losing a bank charter, if found to be servicing marijuana businesses even if their state has legalized operations. Aiello reported that while there was some bipartisan support for the measure in the Senate, the bill faces some opposition from conservatives with "longstanding concerns" about cannabis and progressives who prefer a more comprehensive approach to reform.
Head of Instagram Adam Mosseri is slated to testify this week in front of the Senate Commerce Subcommittee after a Wall Street Journal report that found the Meta-owned social media platform is negatively impacting the mental wellness of teen girls.
Chinese regulators are reportedly behind China-based ride-hailing company DiDi exiting from the New York Stock Exchange, just days after listing earlier this year. The regulators stated prior that DiDi had not received the necessary clearances to list in the states. Gordon Chang, Asian affairs expert, joined Cheddar to break down what the delisting says about the relationship between nations. "This really strikes me as an attempt to really to force a decoupling of China and the U.S. in the financial markets," Chang said.
U.S. Futures were pointing to a higher open to round out the week despite a miss on the November Jobs Report, which showed slower job growth than expected-- and as the omicron variant continues to spread across the country. Patrick Healey, Founder & President at Caliber Financial Partners joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss.
Just days after the detection of the Omicron variant, the World Health Organization has agreed to start the process of establishing a global pandemic treaty or accord. Amy Maxmen, senior reporter for Nature, and Dr. Samuel Scarpino, managing director for the Rockefeller Foundation's Pandemic Prevention Institute, joined Cheddar to discuss this effort and what lessons can be learned from the many COVID-19 failures as the world prepares for future pandemics.
It's a mixed bag for the November jobs report. Hiring slowed last month as employers only added 210,000 jobs, massively missing the estimate of 550,000. But there was one bright spot: the unemployment rate fell to 4.2%, with the number of unemployed people dropping to 6.9 million. Both of those numbers are considerably down from their highs at the end of the 2020 recession. Heather Boushey, a member of President Biden's Council of Economic Advisers, joined Cheddar to discuss the report and the state of the country's ongoing economic recovery.
